This is what I felt like Wednesday.

Woke up at 6. Taught classes until 10. Graded papers until noon. Drove through Nairobi city traffic until 6 (took students to the airport). Finalized my grades until 9. Sat down for a prayer meeting until 10.

This is what I felt like Thursday.

All 400-plus students are gone. Grades are in. My wife was filling our house with wonderful smells. My boys were laughing and fighting and playing. Eight guests came over for the celebration. We pies for dinner. And ate leftover sandwiches at 9pm.

Dostoevsky’s said, “The best definition of man is a being that goes on two legs and is ungrateful.” That’s probably why our ancestors saw fit to create a holiday to overcome the worst tendency in us—ingratitude. A lot to be thankful for here. I hope you are thankful too.

The 51st State?

Well, the way Kenyans are celebrating the American election results, you'd think Obama had promised them statehood. Our Kenyan friends were pleased to tell us this morning that tomorrow (Thursday) has just been declared a national holiday to celebrate the victory. School at RVA will continue as normal for the missionary staff (about 100 folks), but we will be short (or paying double-time to) about 100 Kenyan staff. Great news for us--another day short staffed in an already under-staffed term. Ugh. Oh, and the Kenyan economy is riding a wave of optimism about Kenya's first American president, and the shilling is soaring this week...which means our dollars are dropping even more. Double ugh.

It's all good though. TIA. This is Africa. Nothing surprises me anymore. The next interesting development will come when Kenya's leaders ask for some outlandish financial assistance from Brother Barack and get laughed at. Will he still be the pride of Africa?

My reaction to the elections? I'm glad it's over. I'll pray for our new president and the new direction of our country because A) it's my beloved home country and B) the stability and financial success of America affects the Gospel going out to the unreached around the world. And I guess my other prayer is that the "Christian right" doesn't call Barak "Satan Incarnate" like they did with Clinton. I hope they'll support him for what he does well and challenge him in areas of disagreement. But I just don't see how this country will benefit from venomous attacks on our new President Elect. It didn't help when the Left did it to Bush; it won't help if the Right does it daily to Obama.

To read more about Kenya's reaction to their "favorite son's" ascension, click here.